ECONOMIC TRENDS

Land Reforms.

Under the Malguzari system the ownership of land vested in a few hands while the rest of the people were tenants at will. The tenants were uncertain about their rights, and had no incentive to carry out improvements in land. This stood as a great impediment in the way of agricultural development. This state of affairs has been improved to a very great extent by the land reforms under the Madhya Pradesh Land Revenue Code and the Bombay Tenancy and Agricultural Lands (Vidarbha Region and Cutch) Art. With the implementation of this legislation, the tenant cultivator has been assured of the security of tenure. This, in turn, has given him an incentive to adopt intensive methods of cultivation in his lands. This has resulted into increasing production during the last few years.

The legislation prescribing a ceiling on land holding up to a maximum of 84 acres in respect of dry lands could be regarded as a very progressive measure. Lands in excess of the ceiling have been taken away by the Government, and granted to collective farming societies of landless labourers. The excessive land holding by a few landlords led to uneconomic agriculture. The distribution of those lands to landless labourers will help increase agricultural production in the future.

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